(Yicai Global) Nov. 15 -- The second International Biopharma Industry Week Shanghai got underway yesterday, with the aim of helping to transform the eastern Chinese megacity into a world-class biopharmaceutical hub.

Under the theme of ‘Unite and Upgrade for a Better Future,’ the five-day IBIWS will showcase innovative achievements and promote cooperation and exchange.

Shanghai’s biopharma industry more than doubled in size to CNY761.7 billion (USD108 billion) last year from CNY383.3 billion in 2019, and in the first three quarters of this year, it grew 4.6 percent to CNY616.6 billion from a year earlier, despite the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. Shanghai aims to double it to CNY1.2 trillion (USD168.8 billion) in the five years through 2025.

The city’s biopharma sector has gone through several stages, from the initial clustering of multinational drugmakers to the establishment of local listed biopharma companies. Breakthrough innovations are the next goal.

Shanghai’s biopharma industry needs to make more breakthroughs from scratch, Chen Kaixian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who has followed the sector’s development in Shanghai and China more widely, said during the roundtable discussion at the opening ceremony of the IBIWS.

The number of new drugs that can be developed worldwide in a year ranges from 30 to 40 to as many as 70 to 80, and China alone can develop 20 to 30 of them, Chen noted, saying “new drug development has gained strong momentum in China.”

More than 140 Class I new drugs had been approved for clinical trials in Shanghai as of last month, Zhu Qigao, deputy director of Shanghai’s Science and Technology Commission, said at a press conference on Nov. 11.

The city has been improving the policy environment for industrial innovation and will make greater efforts to build its scientific and technological capacity, clinical research and translation capacity, as well as promote innovation platform and carrier building, along with that of an innovative environment and talented teams, Zhu added. 

Editor: Futura Costaglione